


When the World Stops Looking

by silver_fish



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Relationship Study, chosen solidarity, its kind of fluffy i gueSS like the ending is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-05-31 19:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15126431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_fish/pseuds/silver_fish
Summary: All her life, Colette has known that she exists for one purpose and one purpose only: to die, and regenerate the world. Knowing this, she did everything she could in her sixteen years to truly live.But Zelos... Well, she's not so sure he's really living at all.





	When the World Stops Looking

**Author's Note:**

> my recent symphonia replay made me emo over best boy and best girl (again) so yeah. the two chosens skit messes me up aha. i wish the game had explored the relationship between these two a bit more; i really like how colette is sort of the only person in the party who doesn't act, at one point or another, like she just "tolerates" zelos. and to me it really seems like zelos respects her a lot. they're so absolutely two sides of the same coin and i just think that's so beautiful LMAO. just like with any other symphonia fic, i've started and never completed many zelette fics over the years, but i'm really glad that i got to finish this one, even though canon 'verse stuff is very far from my forte and it is consequently kind of short haha. i really hope you enjoy!
> 
> p.s. i swear this fic is canon compliant! it just follows genis's game route (so the flanoir scene/heimdall scene with lloyd and the mithos possession thing all happened with genis and not colette). i've never actually played this though so if something is wrong please feel free to let me know ahahah weeps i only play zelos's route ,

Colette likes to watch Zelos, sometimes.

Though their first meeting was far from perfect (and admittedly a little hazy, from Colette’s side), she’s found that he doesn’t seem very bothered by it at all. He flirts with her, just as he does with Sheena, Raine, and Presea, and while Sheena insists this isn’t a good thing, Colette doesn’t mind too much. And she’s found that, while he doesn’t really like to show it, he can be nice, too.

(During nights where they are not fortunate enough to make it to an inn, he always finds his place next to her. Despite no longer suffering from the symptoms of her angel transformation, she has found the transition overwhelmingly difficult; sleep still does not come easily to her, but it doesn’t seem to come easily to Zelos, either.)

At first, they didn’t talk a lot. When they did, it was just one-liners, jokes and overused pick-up lines, always met with a smile from Colette. She understands why they others get irritated with him, but she also notices that when everyone looks away, his eyes gloss over a bit, as if he is suddenly relaxing, even though his body language tries to tell them that he is always relaxed.

Colette supposes she has spent a large portion of her life putting up faces, too. Perhaps that’s just the reality of their twisted fates, as Chosens.

Her masks and Zelos’s are different, though. When Colette is trying to appear strong so that nobody will worry about her, Zelos is laughing and joking and dismissing everything that’s wrong. But Colette wonders, sometimes, about some of the things he says; loosely-veiled remarks about his discontentment with his life, with the Chosen system, with the politics of Tethe’alla and somewhere in there the thought of _running away_ from it all. The rest of the party dismisses it, says that’s just how he is, but Colette isn’t so sure if they should.

She wonders, sometimes, if his jokes are not really jokes at all.

Throughout their journey, Colette cannot help but watch him. He’s a spectacular swordsman, and while his smiles may be a product of many years of practice, they are bright and beautiful, enough to catch the eyes of any innocent bystander. Colette is no exception to this, of course.

Other people notice this, more than they notice anything about Zelos.

It is Sheena who first says something, as they walk through the grassy fields towards Sybak, not too long after Colette has regained her heart:

“He’s an ass,” she tells Colette matter-of-factly.

Colette does not respond, but she inclines her head curiously, encouraging Sheena to continue.

“I know he’s pretty, but—”

“It’s not that.”

Sheena pauses, blinking. “What do you mean?”

Colette smiles sorrowfully. “It’s not that he’s pretty. I just think—doesn’t he look a little sad?”

Sheena stares at her.

She looks ahead to the rest of their group. Zelos is in the lead, along with Lloyd, but neither of them are speaking, except for Zelos occasionally pointing something out to Lloyd, likely because of the vast differences between here and Sylvarant.

“You’re too nice,” Sheena finally says. “Are you even capable of seeing bad in other people?”

Colette doesn’t know what to say, so she says nothing at all.

As time presses on, she tries to get closer to him, where she can. There’s something about him, about his sad eyes, about his jokes, about his life as Chosen here in Tethe’alla, but she cannot riddle it out unless she talks to him about it.

They get opportunities, every now and then.

After they rescue her from Rodyle and fill her in on everything that happened, they settle in a cramped room at a House of Guidance between Meltokio and the coast, all of them drained from the encounter with Rodyle’s dragons.

It is not Colette who approaches Zelos, but Zelos who approaches her. While Genis preps dinner, Lloyd pestering him about one thing or another from his side, only to be met with eye rolls and “ _Honestly_ , Lloyd”s, the rest of the party has settled at the too-small table. Sheena and Raine are discussing something about Summon Spirits, while Regal and Presea sit by, listening.

Colette cannot think to do the same, bothered by the events of the past few days.

Zelos settles beside her, offering out a glass of water.

She looks up, surprised, and he just throws her an easy smile, one that looks like it is more a thing of habit than of mirth.

“Is this for me?” she asks.

“Yeah. I thought you looked a little lonely over here.” He glances at the others, but nobody seems to notice them together. He leans a little closer, lowering his voice as he adds, “I wanted to ask you something, if you don’t mind answering.”

She takes an experimental sip of water. She hadn’t realized it, but her throat sears with dehydration.

He waits patiently as she drinks the rest, and when she finally sets the empty glass down, he takes it from her.

“What do you want to talk about?”

His lips twitch up a bit, and he winks. “Let’s step outside, angel. It’ll only take a sec.”

He rises before she can say anything else, carrying the glass away with him to put away before making his way outside, saying something to Lloyd about “needing fresh air, it’s so _stuffy_ in here.”

Colette hesitates a moment, but stands and follows him, drawing the eyes of the rest party as she does. She tries to pay this no mind, and nobody asks where she is going, because they all saw Zelos leave, too.

She closes the door to the building behind her gently, then turns and sees Zelos sitting with his back against the wall.

He catches her eye and grins, but it does not meet his eyes.

“Come sit with me,” he says. “I won’t hurt you, angel.”

She nods, making her way over slowly and lowering herself down beside him.

“You sure get kidnapped a lot, huh?”

A breathy laugh escapes out from between Colette’s teeth. “Kind of,” she admits.

“It’s not such a great life, is it?” He turns his eyes upwards. The sun is beginning to set, and the colours of it cast him in pink and gold. Colette briefly thinks that he is more beautiful than the falling sun before them.

“I…” She sighs, pulling her knees up to her chest. “I think I’d rather it was me than someone else. So...I don’t mind so much.”

He’s quiet for a moment, and then he remarks, “You’re a good person, Colette.”

Colette thinks it might be one of the first time he’s ever directly referred to her by her name.

“You are too!” she protests, whirling to face him.

He laughs. “No, I’m not.”

Before she can get another word in, he stands and offers a hand down to help her up as well. “Sometime,” he says as she takes it, “you’ll have to tell me all about the Chosen system in Sylvarant.”

She furrows her eyebrows. “Is it different here?”

“I’m thinking it might be,” he says, dropping her hand. It feels very cold, suddenly, in a way she has not felt since before she lost her feelings.

“...Is it hard here?”

He doesn’t respond for a very long stretch of time. Colette almost wonders if he even heard her at all.

And then, “No, it’s not. Compared to you…” He stops.

She waits.

“Never mind,” he mutters. “It’s not hard for me at all, angel.” He turns and winks at her. “But it’s sweet that you’re worried.”

He makes his way inside, ignoring her stretched out hand and call of his name.

* * *

Colette suspects, sometimes, that she and Zelos are more similar than he will allow himself to believe. She can see his lack of self-worth in the small things, every time he says she is a better Chosen than he ever could be, every time Sheena says something about him being lazy and he does not deny it, for all he acts hurt. He’s a difficult read in every sense of the word, but Colette knows a familiar face even when the person wearing it is going through such great lengths to keep it hidden.

She wonders about him, about his nonchalance towards the separation of the worlds, about his sentiment that Tethe’alla would be better off without him.

After Colette’s sickness is revealed, she finds that everything feels a little duller, in all the wrong ways. She knows Lloyd is working to heal her, is doing everything he can, but she cannot stave off the feeling that she is _ugly_ , so _ugly_ , a failed Chosen in every respect.

It’s hard to sleep with the ever-growing Exsphere that is her body, and so she catches herself sitting outside of inns—which Lloyd insists they exclusively stay at until Colette is better, and Zelos is quick to cover the costs of—during the night, counting the stars as Kratos once told her to, what seems like a very long time ago.

And every time, she feels a warm presence next to her, a gentle arm around her shoulders, a thigh against hers.

She’s not sure when they grew so close, but those quiet moments of comfort mean more to her than she could ever speak.

The night before they’re planning to go to the Tower of Salvation, they spend a night in Sybak, regrouping after their trials through Latheon Gorge.

But Colette chases sleep as though it is an illusion, much too far away for her to grasp.

It is easier to see the stars from Sybak than it is from Meltokio, she has discovered, but they are not quite as clear anywhere in Tethe’alla as they are back home.

 _Back home_.

She misses home, sometimes. Not Sylvarant, her world, but Iselia, Lloyd and Genis, her best friends, Frank and Phaidra and all the people around them who watched her grow up and become what she is now.

And what she is now isn’t what they expected from her at all.

She lets out a heavy sigh.

“Got a lot on your mind, angel?”

She jumps, turning her gaze towards the entrance of the inn. Zelos comes beside her, then slides down the wall to sit as her side.

“I guess so,” she says, perching her chin on her raised knees.

He says nothing, folding his legs into a criss-cross and then turning his eyes to the sky.

“It’s kinda crazy, isn’t it? All of this.”

She hums lowly. “But it’s to save the world, isn’t it? That’s what we’re going to do?”

“First, we need to save you.”

She looks away from him, heart in her throat.

“You don’t like it, do you?” he asks. “Having to be saved, I mean.”

Her voice comes out as a prolonged breath than as full words:

“I hate it.”

He laughs, but she know neither of them think it is very funny at all.

“You’re so strong, Colette. Tethe’alla would be a better place if it had a Chosen like you.”

“Zelos—”

“I think I’m kinda selfish,” he continues. When she sneaks a glance at him, she sees that he is still looking up to the stars. “When I first met you, all I could think was how grateful I was that it wasn’t me. In a different world, it might’ve been.”

The words hang between them for a long moment.

And then, “But I don’t think I would’ve gone as far as you did.”

He looks down at her, now. Though his lips are twisted up in a smile, it is a very painful look, and his sadness claws at Colette’s heart like an illness.

“You’ve never ran away from something in your life, have you?”

A cool breeze rolls by, and shoulders hunch in slightly.

“I wanted to.”

“But you didn’t.”

She looks ahead of her, unseeing.

“I don’t want to run away anymore,” he says quietly, his voice a whisper on the wind.

Before she can say anything else, he stands up and brushes off his pants.

This time, when Colette calls after him as he makes his way back to the inn, he looks back.

His smile is more genuine than Colette has ever seen it.

“You should get some sleep, angel. I have a feeling tomorrow’s gonna be a hard day.”

Colette can say nothing as he goes back inside, leaving only the murmur of the summer breeze behind.

* * *

He’s right, of course, but the things that follow are not hardest for Colette.

Rather, she thinks they are hardest for _Lloyd_.

It’s so very backwards, she thinks. Lloyd, who has always been her emotional rock, the person whose smile she had to look forward to when she knew that all that waited for her was an inevitable darkness and aching, eternal sacrifice, her best friend—

There are few things that she can think of that could possibly hurt more than watching that person fall apart.

He’s exhausted, pushed to the ends of his wits. The revelation that Mithos was Yggdrasill all along, the more painful revelation that Kratos was his _father_ all along...all of it leaves him fatigued, drained, putting up a brave smile for the rest even as his hands shake with the weight of the world.

Colette cannot help but wonder if what she sees in Lloyd now is what he has seen in her for years, but she quickly dismisses that; Lloyd is stronger than she is. He always has been.

She and Zelos stay behind in Flanoir with Lloyd. Genis stays, too, but he seems exhausted as well, upset with Mithos’s betrayal in ways Colette cannot even begin to comprehend.

Lloyd and Genis are both in their rooms relatively early in the night, but Zelos keeps Colette company in the hotel lobby, before a blazing fireplace to keep their toes from frosting over.

“What was your family like, Colette?”

Colette blinks, then turns to look at Zelos with a frown.

“You grew up with your father and grandmother, right? What were they like?”

He isn’t often serious, but when he has something big on his mind, it isn’t difficult to tell.

“Um, well…” She folds her hands in her lap and looks at them, unseeing. “I grew up knowing that I would die one day. I think the thought of that kept them from getting too close to me. They love me, of course,” she adds quickly. “They love me a lot! But we aren’t that close. They both knew they’d outlive me, so…”

Zelos is very quiet for a moment, as if thinking.

And then:

“That’s so messed up.”

Colette looks up to him, surprised.

“Even if they knew you were going to die, they should’ve made sure to be close to you,” he continues. “Honestly, just knowing you were going to die should’ve made them want to get to know you as best as they could.”

“Oh.” She exhales slowly, then shakes her head. “That’s not fair. I think they did what they could to be there for me even though it hurt them.”

“You’re unreal,” Zelos mutters.

“Huh?”

He looks up at her, grinning wryly. “I just can’t wrap my head around it. Doesn’t any of it make you _mad_ , Colette? Doesn’t the entire system upset you?”

She thinks about it for a moment, considering him. In the faint light of the fire, his skin glows a bit, and his hair is more red than usual. His eyes are guarded yet earnest, an odd expression she is beginning to grow used to.

“It doesn’t,” she finally says. “I wish...that it didn’t have to be this way, but...we’re going to fix it, aren’t we? Isn’t that what all this is for?”

Zelos laughs. The sound is somewhat hollow.

“I see why you and Lloyd are so close,” he says. “You’re so optimistic about it.”

“Aren’t you?”

His lips twitch, and he leans forward a bit, his hair falling around his shoulders.

“I try not to be optimistic about anything,” he informs her. “But I’m starting to feel like you two are wearing off on me. Especially you.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Now, he sits back, hands behind his head. “Well, just what I said. Your attitude is _quite_ infectious. I didn’t want to end up here, you know.”

Colette furrows her eyebrows, not understanding.

“Kratos makes me really angry,” he says. “Maybe it’s not my place, but still… I think a parent’s job is to be there for their kid, not use them like tools for their convenience. And I think it’s to love their kid, even if that kid is destined to die. Don’t you think so, Colette?”

As he speaks, he keeps his tone down, careful, but his eyes burn with icy fire, and his chest heaves with the weight of what he is saying.

Colette thinks his words over for a moment.

And then she asks, “What were _your_ parents like?”

He laughs sharply. “Oh, you don’t want to hear about that, Colette. We should get to bed soon, anyway, since—”

“Zelos.”

He is already standing, but he halts at her voice.

“Yes, angel?”

“You said…” She stops, then stands and meets his eyes, back straight. “You said you didn’t want to run anymore!”

They look at each other, blue to blue, ice to fire, and then—

He laughs.

She stares at him, chest twisting.

“You can be pretty stubborn, huh?” He runs a hand through his hair, then looks down at her with a grin. “I’m surprised you even remembered that.”

“O-of course I did!” She leans forward on her toes, fists clenched in front of her. “It’s important to me!”

His eyes widen, and then the shock falls off his face completely, replaced by that same practiced smile.

“You’re too cute,” he coos, but he is sitting down again, folding his legs under him on the chair and fixing Colette with a very pensive look. “You want me to tell you, then?”

Colette tilts her head slightly. “Is it a bad story?”

“A bit.”

She sits again, hands relaxing. “Okay,” she says simply. “I want to hear, either way.”

He looks around them, and then fixes his gaze on the window behind Colette. Snow is falling in droves, whiter than the wings on an angel, and—

“It doesn’t snow a lot in Meltokio.”

“Huh?”

He does not look at her. “But there was one year that it did. A record snowfall. I begged my mother to go out with me. I would build her a snowman, I thought. It would make her happy.” He pauses, lips twitching up a bit. “She probably wouldn’t have cared either way, of course. But she went out with me eventually. Even as I child, I was very persistent.”

It is a joke, but Colette gets the distinct feeling that his heart isn’t really in it.

“The snowman fell apart,” he continues. “And the snow turned red. I didn’t know what was happening at first, but… My mother was murdered. As she fell, she said to me, ‘You should never have been born.’” Now, he looks at Colette, taking in the look of horror she cannot keep off her face. “She didn’t have such a great life. Because of the oracle from Cruxis, she was forced to marry my father, who was the Chosen at the time. She probably loved someone else.”

Colette swallows thickly. “But that’s not your fault,” she points out. “It’s not fair, but…”

“The magic that killed her was meant for me,” Zelos explains. “My father’s mistress, Seles’s mother, was the one who killed her.”

Colette frowns. “But…”

“Don’t look so sad,” he implores her. “It’s in the past. Besides, it’s not like my time as Chosen here as been any worse than yours. We just got it a little differently, that’s all.”

Colette glances back at the window, frowning. “That’s why you don’t like it here, isn’t it? You don’t like the snow?”

Zelos is quiet, and when she looks at him again, there is a very odd look on his face, one she could not even hope to decipher.

“Kinda,” he finally says. “But it’s more that girls have to cover themselves up more in the cold.”

But his words do not stop the pain in Colette’s heart, the ache she feels for him now.

“Colette,” he says, and she startles, looking up with wide eyes.

“What is it?”

“Thanks for not letting me run away.” He smiles—not a grin, but a small, soft smile, a _real_ smile—and stands up, making his way around the small table between them to stand in front of her. He grabs her hand gently.

Before he can back away from her, though, she stands and throws her arms around him, pulling him close to her. He stiffens for a moment, and then laughs a little and responds in like, separating their hands and putting both of his around her, one at the middle of her back and one over her hair.

“Thanks for telling me,” she whispers, voice somewhat muffled by his chest.

He says nothing, and they separate after a short time. He looks down at her with guarded eyes.

“It’s starting to get late,” he says, taking a step back. “We’ll have to rest up for tomorrow. I have a feeling Lloyd has big plans for when the others get back.”

Colette nods.

He hesitates.

She watches him.

“...Good night, Colette.”

She does not call after him this time. His name gets stuck in her throat, and all she can do is watch as he walks away, heart pounding very fast.

* * *

“Colette, come here for a second.”

Never for a second does the thought of distrusting Zelos cross her mind.

That’s something a lot of people say about her, she thinks; that she is kind to a fault, selfless to a fault, trusting to a fault. But nobody else seems to consider the possibility, either, until he betrays them.

Even when he does, though, never for a second does the thought of distrusting Zelos cross her mind.

He holds the edge of his sword against her throat, holding her firmly against him. She can feel his heartbeat against her back.

Their friends’ outraged cries hardly reach Colette’s ears. Instead, there is warm breath, and a whisper so quiet it is hardly even a word at all:

“ _I’m sorry_.”

He shoves her away, to the angels that have appeared behind her, and they take her up to the platform where Pronyma is. She looks down at him, desperate; he is watching her with those same guarded blue eyes…

She reaches for him, eyes stinging.

“Zelos!”

He looks away from her.

“ _Zelos_!”

As he speaks to their friends, she takes a moment to think back on their conversation the day before. It is no wonder that he hates being Chosen so much; Colette cannot say that she really enjoys it either, but…

Undoubtedly, the title of _Chosen_ has ruined Zelos’s life. He said it himself—

 _It’s because of that title that my life has been a total joke_.

Because of his mother’s death. Because of his half-sister, stuck under house arrest. Because everyone knows who he is, but doesn’t really know who he _is_.

Colette thinks, though, that she _does_ know who he is.

Not the Chosen of Tethe’alla, confident and self-assured, a ladies’ man through and through, but _Zelos Wilder_ , twenty-two years old and already sick of life, only just learning how to stop running and start fighting, trying to find meaning in something that he never used to think could even _have_ meaning.

Yes, she knows who Zelos is.

Sad eyes, jokes like walls around him, a pain in his chest that takes the form of his past. A hatred for his life as Chosen, for all the things he could’ve had but didn’t. A terrible lack of self-worth in every sense of the words.

But when he speaks to Colette, his eyes light up. He smiles, and it is almost like he is truly smiling for the first time in his life. He looks at her, and it is only them, the rest of the world and their opinions fallen away completely.

Yes, she knows who Zelos is.

He is her friend.

Never for a second does the thought of distrusting Zelos cross her mind.

* * *

Heimdall is a very literal breath of fresh air after the Tower of Salvation.

Despite their victory over Mithos, everyone seems quite low. There is a lot between them that is unspoken, of course, but Colette finds herself mostly worried about the way Zelos refuses to even look at her.

But they are all concerned about Lloyd, and with his inevitable battle with Kratos looming so near, it is him that they all train their focus on.

Lloyd is exhausted, though. Fatigued far beyond what should even be _allowed_ for someone so young. Colette can see how this journey has aged him, matured him, made him into the leader he was always going to be, but she can see how it has drained him, too, how it has hurt him.

Desperately, she wishes she could fix it for him. Could whisk him back to Iselia to be with his dad and the others of the village. And yet, even if she could, she knows it is the wrong thing to do. The world is relying on him now, and he will do everything in his power to save it.

That was her, once.

Now, she will follow Lloyd on his path, to a find a way where all people can live in his ideal united world.

With so much on his mind, it is no wonder that he retires to bed so early. Colette, though she tries, cannot do the same, and she finds herself outside the inn, on the grass, watching the sun set over the village of elves.

Martel’s memories spin through her head, distant but so close, painful but not _hers_ to feel. Memories of someone kind and patient, who loved her brother and her fiancé and Kratos so dearly…

“Colette.”

Colette jumps, then twists around slightly to see Zelos. He looks down at her with very sombre eyes.

“Can I sit with you?”

She nods, watching as he steps forward and slowly lowers himself down beside her. He directs his gaze to the sunset, and it reflects in his eyes like evening light over the ocean.

Neither of them speak for a long moment, and then he says:

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” She pauses, then folds her knees under her and shifts to face him completely, smiling. “You don’t need to apologize, Zelos.”

He laughs, but it is a very strained sound. “You’re too nice, Colette. You know, I was so prepared to say, like—I’m sorry, I know I barely have the right to ask you to forgive me but I really hope you will anyway, but I seem to have forgotten my audience.” He turns and looks at her, but he is not smiling. “Even still, I don’t deserve your forgiveness. Look—”

He reaches forward, fingers grazing the skin at her neck. There is a small cut, from the edge of his sword.

She shakes her head and grabs his hand between hers.

“You did what you thought was best,” she says. “You didn’t run away.”

They are close enough that she can see his chest stutter as his breath catches.

“I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse that you’re so incapable of seeing bad in people,” he murmurs. “I’m glad you think I’m a good person, but I’m not. I put your _life_ in danger, you know.”

She huffs. “You are a good person! And if you don’t feel like you are, you have the power to become better. Every person deserves forgiveness. Every person deserves another chance.”

“You truly are the perfect spokeswoman of our supposed goddess Martel. It’s no wonder you’re the Chosen of Mana.”

Colette giggles. “Even if Martel wasn’t a goddess and Cruxis isn’t good, I believe the teachings of the church are important. They’re all about people. I think...Martel really loved people, even though they weren’t all kind to her.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

Colette looks down at their hands, her smile slipping away a bit.

“When Martel’s consciousnesses entered me, I saw her memories.” She bites her lip. “Felt her love and her pain, her devotion to Mithos. She was a good person. I think she really loved the world.”

Zelos blinks. “Huh. I guess it makes sense… They say you’re the perfect vessel for her, right? So you must be similar somehow.”

“I don’t think I could ever be like her,” Colette admits. “Honestly, even now, I’m pretty scared.”

“Worried about Lloyd?”

She nods.

“I think he’ll be okay. You should worry about yourself, too. It’s been a long journey, after all.”

His hand is very warm against the two of hers, but she pulls them away despite this, resting them in her lap.

“You braid your hair sometimes, right?”

He frowns. “Yeah, I guess. It’s neater. Why do you ask?”

“Lloyd tried to learn how to do my hair when we were kids.” She smiles fondly, thinking back on it. “He wasn’t very good. He probably just didn’t have the patience for it. But I’ve always thought it was pretty calming… Can I braid your hair, Zelos?”

He exhales slowly, then his lips twitch up a bit. “Sure, if you want.”

He turns around, putting his back to her, and she gets closer to him, combing her fingers through his hair to separate it out into three sections.

“Your hair is so pretty,” she says. “And long. Do you think it’s longer than mine?”

“It might be,” Zelos muses. “If it were straight, at least.”

Colette hums, brushing more of his hair back. “Maybe we’ll have to compare someday.”

His laugh leaves her chest feeling very light.

“Maybe,” he says. “Is it a competition?”

She thinks about it. “Well, I guess it kind of is.”

“What do I get if I win, then?”

His tone is not so heavy, now; the teasing lilt in it is familiar and warm, much preferred to the pained weight of his previous words. It is not so easy, Colette knows, to forgive yourself for something, but…

“Whatever you want,” she says confidently, weaving his hair together carefully.

“Be careful promising things like that, angel,” he says. “Might wind up signing for something you don’t really want.”

“I trust you,” she says simply, and he laughs, the sound like windchimes through a summer’s breeze.

“I know you do.”

She comes to the end of the braid, then frowns as she realizes she has nothing to tie it with.

“Colette.”

She drops her grip on his hair, and it loosens slightly as it hits his back. He turns to face her and smiles.

“Thanks,” he says. “Try not to worry _too_ much, all right?”

He stands, brushing his pants off, and turns towards the inn.

“Zelos,” she calls, reaching a hand out.

He stops.

“Stay with me a little longer,” she says, then offers a wide smile when he looks at her. “Please?”

By now, the sun has almost set completely, and the first stars of the night gleam above them. In Heimdall, they are just as clear as she remembers them being in Iselia.

He is quiet for a moment, and then his shoulders fall slightly, his lips moving up just a bit. He does not speak as he sits down beside her again, and she does not ask him to. They watch as the stars paint the sky, one by one. Their hands brush between them, but do not fully touch.

This time, when they go back inside, they go together.

* * *

When it is all over, there is no doubt between any of them that this journey has changed them all.

They settle in Iselia together after the worlds are reunited, exhausted and in need of a chance to regroup before setting out into the next stages of their lives.

“Genis and I are going on another journey,” Lloyd tells her. “We’re going to collect all the Exspheres, so they can never be used like this again.”

“That’s a good idea,” Colette agrees. “But make sure you rest, too, okay?”

“We will. You’re welcome to come with us too, you know.”

Colette looks back, to where the rest of their friends are. Genis and Regal are prepping dinner while Raine and Presea chat with them about one thing or another, probably in hopes of keeping Genis’s spirits high after their fight with Mithos. Closer to Lloyd and Colette, Zelos is pestering Sheena about something, but she is laughing along with him. He catches Colette looking and winks at her before saying something else to Sheena, who snorts and slaps his arm.

She turns to Lloyd again and smiles. “I think there are other things I have to do, as Chosen. The church will need somebody to rely on as it reforms, right?”

“Is it because of Zelos?”

Colette wonders when Lloyd got so wise.

“A little bit,” she admits. “I feel like maybe our fates are sort of tangled together.”

“Makes sense,” Lloyd agrees. “You’re both Chosens, after all.”

But maybe it is more than that, Colette thinks.

Still, she smiles and nods. “Yeah! But I’ll be here when you guys get back, and any time you get tired…”

His smile is warm. “Thanks, Colette.”

Before Colette can say anything else, she hears someone behind her, and then there are hands on her shoulders.

“Did I hear someone talking about the great Zelos?”

Lloyd rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, maybe about how greatly _annoying_ you are,” Sheena jokes from behind him.

“Lloyd and Colette would _never_ ,” Zelos insists. “Well, maybe Lloyd. Definitely not this one, though, right, angel?”

She tilts her head back to look at him and beams.

“That’s right,” she agrees. “You’re never annoying!”

He grins back at her.

“You’re just too nice, Colette,” Sheena says. “You’ll probably never see someone as annoying in your life.”

“That’s what we love about her, though,” Lloyd points out.

“Oh, Colette!” Suddenly, Zelos’s hands are off her shoulders, and he’s pulling a chair up beside her. “It occurred to me that we have a little score to settle, now that everything is calmed down.”

She blinks. “What do you mean?”

He pushes his hair over his shoulder and throws her a winning smile. “Our hair! Whose is longer.”

“Oh, right!” She straightens, then looks to Lloyd and says, “You have to compare for us!”

“Huh? What’s this about all of a sudden?”

“Just do it,” Zelos insists. “Really!”

He bows his head down by Colette’s, so that their hair touches, blonde against red, and Lloyd and Sheena both immediately say, “Zelos, definitely.”

They pull away from each other, and Zelos grins at her.

“I knew it,” he boasts. “I don’t think I’ve _ever_ had it cut.”

“Colette’s was shorter just a few years ago,” Lloyd reflects.

“Dinner is ready!” Genis calls from the other side of the table.

Lloyd is on his feet in an instant, while Sheena laughs at him but is just as quick to follow. Zelos and Colette do not move, watching their friends head towards the rest of the group.

“You owe me, now.”

She looks over to him, tilting her head. “What do you mean?”

He leans a little closer to her. “Whatever I want, right? That’s what you said?”

“Oh!” She nods. “That’s right.”

He is very close to her, so close that she can feel his breaths between them. His eyes shine even in the dim light of the inn, and she thinks that this is the Zelos she knows, who puts down his walls as soon as the world stops looking.

“How about a kiss?” he murmurs, lips already very close to hers.

But it is a question, and not an assertion.

She smiles.

“Anything you want,” she reminds him quietly, but she is moving towards him before he even gets the chance.

When their lips meet, everything else seems to melt away, and for a moment it is just them—brought together by fate, twisted and tangled, finally unraveling into something tangible, something _beautiful_ …

They pull apart, remaining close at first, and then both jump as someone drops something behind them.

Colette laughs lightly, cheeks stinging just a bit, and turns to look at the rest of their friends, watching them with a host of different expressions. It is Genis who dropped the plate, and now mumbles an embarrassed apology before reaching down to pick it up. Lloyd and Sheena exchange an almost smug look, while the other three seem far less than surprised at all.

“I forgot people were looking,” Zelos admits, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it, either.

Colette stands up, offering him a hand. “Me too,” she says. “Let’s get something to eat.”

This time, he is by her side with no hesitation.

She has a feeling he is going to stay there.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated! xx
> 
> p.s. catch me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/laphicets) or [tumblr](http://guremahi.tumblr.com)!


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